


What if he didn't die?

by Schattenschreiberin



Series: The Alteration - Extras [5]
Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Post-Triple Threat Ending | TT (Henry Stickmin), Story with alternate ending, the wall - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:21:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29330733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schattenschreiberin/pseuds/Schattenschreiberin
Summary: After almost two years the toppats manage to break into the Wall and rescue the ones that landed there with the rocket. What happened to the free clan members before this mission will be a problem though…What do you do if some don’t approve of the leader you just got out of prison?This is a rewrite of my story "How Sven became leader of the Toppat Clan again".Without the major character death.
Relationships: Burt Curtis/Sven Svensson
Series: The Alteration - Extras [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2075541
Comments: 5
Kudos: 9





	What if he didn't die?

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [How Sven became leader of the Toppat Clan again](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28451802) by [Schattenschreiberin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schattenschreiberin/pseuds/Schattenschreiberin). 



> Did I just write a fix-it-fic of my own story?  
> Yes. That's what I did.
> 
> Also fixed some spelling mistakes and stuff like that.  
> And I implemented my headcanons about the Toppat clan. Some of them. Don't judge me, please

Sirens were blaring, the corridors were tinted red from emergency lighting.

Maximum security was surprisingly empty even though all the cells had been opened. Then again… who knew in what kind of condition those prisoners were. He didn’t have much time to care or even think about that for too long. In, get who he came for, and out.

“Stop right there, filthy top hat-wearing rat!”

Plans seemed always so easy and calm on paper…

The only thing that was, worryingly, easy was carrying Sven in a fireman’s carry. He was way too light…

After being chased through another hallway he turned around and shot at the explosives that hung over the doorway. The whole wall collapsed in the blast and he had finally time to take a breather.

“Burt”

Or not. He made sure that Sven was still alright, well… as alright as he could be before continuing to walk towards his destination and answering the call.

“Here”

“Did you find him?”

“I did. How are the others?”

“We’ve got eleven, but the warden was on our heels, so we had to leave early. Where are you?”

Burt looked around “Still in the complex. About to meet up with Wallace”

There was a very audible sigh on the other end “Look out then. Petrov is done joking, Burt”

“I didn’t think he had a sense of humor in the first place”

Another explosion behind him made him speed up his pace. That didn’t sound too good.

“Go ahead with the others. We’ve brought two trucks for a reason”

“If I have to come back to bust you out too…”

Burt just hummed in mild amusement.

“See you in an hour, Curtis”

“As long as I have two more doors lined with explosives in front of me, I’m not making any commitments”

And even after destroying those two he wasn’t sure if they would make it out in time. There was still a riot going on, but it was hard to say for how long and if the warden had been after Carol and the others who had only freed low-ranking members of the clan… He’d probably rip out Burts’ throat with his teeth before watching him leave with the Toppat leader.

Wallace was waiting, or rather hiding, in the elevator, still wearing his Wall-uniform. He hit the button as soon as Burt was next to him.

“How does it look up there?”

Wallace scratched his neck and looked at his walky talky “Chaotic but they are starting to get back control…” The riot from two years ago had been a walk in the park compared to this…

They had a few minutes before they would get out into the cold again. They had picked the time of a snowstorm for a reason, more reason than Burt had told Carol because he did not want to go through another lecture about wasting their resources. He lowered Sven to the ground before pulling off his own white coat. Wallaces’ eyes grew wide as he watched Burt wrapping their boss in the thick coat. He was wearing a bright red shirt. “You’re gonna look like a walking target!”

“Thanks for noticing”

“… Why though?”

“The snow should hide you two good enough, but I don’t want to take any more risks”, risking to get shot didn’t really count right now “And Petrov seems like the bloodhound-type to me…”

Burts’ calmness was starting to freak Wallace out a bit… “So… I carry the chief and you cover us and distract them?”

The younger man nodded while reloading his gun “That’s the plan”

“What’s the plan for when you get hit and fall?”

“You concentrate on your part of the plan”, the elevator started to slow down and Burt motioned for Wallace to take Sven “If we don’t reach the truck together and I’m not there after fifteen minutes you leave”

The elevator doors opened and wind, snow and sounds of the still ongoing riot filled the tiny space.

Wallace was right. It was chaotic but most of the prisoners who didn’t manage to somehow escape by now were on the ground, vague unmoving forms in the snow. The two Toppats didn’t waste any time and quickly made their way over to the fence. There was a gate they could use, if they made it there.

The guards that were able to spot them had already used a lot of their ammunition on other prisoners, that was a good thing. A bad thing was that the Wall had tanks. At least Burts’ plan seemed to work as most fire was concentrated on him. And while rolling into the snow to avoid a shot from a tank wasn’t the greatest thing, the resulting hole in the fence was of great use. It hadn’t even been a minute and Wallace was way ahead of him, already through the gate and barely visible through the storm. Good.

He hurried through the gap before there could be another attack from the tank.

The woods were quiet, and the scenery would probably be rather calming and nice, if he wouldn’t be running for his life right now. Wood exploded where the old trees where hit by bullets from various weaponry, seemed like overkill for just one Toppat… He was honest to god surprised that he was still unharmed, aside from a few scratches.

Of course, it wouldn’t stay like that…

Mid jump over a fallen log he felt tiny projectiles dig into his back and graze his skin. For a moment time seemed to slow down and he caught a glimpse of his pursuers out of the corner of his eye. He couldn’t help but be impressed. A little bit more to the right and he would’ve been hit with the full force of that shotgun blast. Considering the distance that Wall-guard should feel accomplished.

Then a fourth of the blasts’ force finally hit him and he crashed into the snow.

His side was burning, and he could feel the snow turn red, but he forced himself to stay still. If he got up, he was dead. They were too close now… but would hopefully not shoot again if they thought he was already dead. The wind continued to howl through the trees as the guards got closer. And most passed him. Four in total and three continued to search for others. The one left behind sounded out of breath and was apparently out of bullets as well. Something fell to the ground and the guard cursed. 

Burt turned his head slightly to try and see what he was doing. The burly man had his back turned and was crouching, searching around in a pile of snow. Now or he would freeze to the ground. As swiftly as he could he got to his feet and tried to knock the other man out, but he was too slow. The guards’ hand shot up and grabbed his wrist, twisting it until his pistol slipped out of his hand.

“Nice trick, Toppat”, the man grinned and pulled his arm to get a hold of the toppats’ throat “Ya should’ve stayed down”

Burt grit his teeth and glared at the guard “You shouldn’t get too close to me” With his free hand he pulled something out of his pocket and slammed it into the guards’ face. For a moment the man was just perplexed, then the little device started to beep and blink, and he pushed Burt away to try and remove the sticky bomb from his forehead.

When he realized it was a trick and there was nothing that could explode, the toppat was long gone.

The cold air was burning in his lungs, his shirt was soaked with blood and he lost his gun.

Things could be worse.

There was no more gunfire behind him, and he wasn’t far from the truck now. Most of the way was downhill too. A steep hill. He lasted around a minute before he lost his footing and just tumbled through the snow, grasping for roots and rocks, just something to stop his descend. Suddenly there was nothing there anymore, and that was when he remembered the small cliff above the truck.

Landing hard on the iced over roof of the truck squeezed all air out of his lungs. There were a few sickening cracking sounds and the world went blurry for a second before he slid down the slight decline and landed in the underbrush the vehicle was hidden in. How did that not kill him?

Alerted by the noise Wallace jumped out of the back of the truck. “B-boss?!”

Burt gasped for air before rolling on his side to try and get to his feet again “Don’t…” Even breathing hurt… “Don’t call me…” The older toppat knew what he wanted to say but wasn’t in the mood to argue and just helped Burt up. “We’ve got first aid. Don’t know if it will help much with… all this”

“I can patch myself up… Just get us out of here before the guards catch up… or Carol skins us alive for being late…”

Wallace looked the other man over, trying to see how bad it was. Considering that that fall had great potential to kill someone, it wasn’t that bad. Still nothing he could leave completely untreated though. “I doubt that they’ll find us so fast in this storm” After a moment of struggle to get up in the truck he sat Burt down, near a still unconscious Sven who was wrapped in Burts’ coat and a few blankets. “And Miss Carol is surely going to kill me if I let you die from this”

That was something Burt couldn’t argue with… 

The shirt was ruined but still good enough to be used as a sling for Burts’ broken arm. Yeah… He probably wouldn’t have been able to patch himself up. Neither of them were doctors but they both guessed he had broken some ribs as well. Wallace couldn’t do much about the broken bones, but his main focus was stopping the bleeding the shotgun blast caused anyway. Only after that was done they were finally on their way.

Burt leaned his head back against the cold wall and sighed. That could’ve gone better… He should probably call Carol…

With his left hand he put his headset back on and pressed the little button that would connect him with Carol.

“You’re out of the Wall”

“In the truck right now. Running a bit late”

“I figured…”, there was silence for a moment “How are you all doing?”

“Sven is still out like a light…” Burt looked over at the blond. His breathing was slow and even, which was at least something. “Wallace got graced by a few bullets”

“What about you?”

“Met a guard who’s a good shot. Hit me with a shotgun from pretty far away”

“You were hit with a shotgun”, he could easily imagine how Carol was pinching her nose in frustration, and something in her voice told him that she noticed his strained breathing “Anything else?”

“I broke my arm. And maybe a few ribs”, he looked down at his chest “Not sure though…”

“… You have no self-preservation instincts, do you? How did that even happen?”

“Fell off a cliff onto the truck” He was still wondering how he wasn’t dead from that.

“One of these days you’re going to run out of luck”

“You say that as if I’m a lucky person”

“… I’ll see you on the boat, Curtis”

After the call ended, he pulled his headphones down so that they just hung around his neck. Maybe twenty more minutes… Twenty more minutes for something to happen to ruin everything. But they had come this far- An especially big bump in the road interrupted his thought process and he could faintly hear Wallaces’ apology through his headset, but he was too distracted to react to that.

The truck shaking had woken up Sven. Gunfire and explosions didn’t do it but a ride over a bumpy road did?

He was looking around wide eyed, upper body propped up on trembling arms, obviously disoriented and with a mixture of fear and confusion on his face. “Sven?” At the sound of his name he turned his head “… B-burt…?” His voice sounded like he hadn’t talked in a long time.

Burt nodded and reached out to place a hand on his friends’ shoulder “Yeah. How a- Ugh!” As soon as he touched him, Sven tensed up for a brief moment before lunging himself at Burt, wrapping his arms around him, somehow even knocking his headphones to the floor in the process. Like he was afraid Burt would vanish if he didn’t hold onto him. Maybe that was what he thought…

The first few seconds he was stunned. That always happened when Sven surprised him with a hug though. But this was very different. Last time something like it happened was when Sven lost an important key and Burt found it buried under a mountain of disposable coffee-cups. The Sven back then had been relieved, happy, and maybe a little bit hyper from too much caffeine. This Sven was a trembling mess who was clinging to him like he was a lifeline.

He felt the sudden urge to go back to the Wall to find Petrov and shove a real bomb down the old mans’ throat…

He probably shouldn’t do that… Instead he used his arm that wasn’t broken and trapped between Svens’ and his own body to pull the other man closer. Both his own movements and Svens’ tackling caused his chest to hurt a lot more than it should. He’d probably start to worry about that when it would send him coughing blood.

Sven had his face buried in the crook of Burts’ neck while his feet were tangled in the blankets and coat Wallace had used to keep him warm. All in all, it didn’t look like a particularly comfortable position. “Hey sovande skönhet…”, he felt Svens’ breath hitch and he gently rubbed his back “Can you let go for a second?”

No, not even for a second.

After seeing the blond shake his head and just hold on tighter Burt had to bite back a pained wheeze. “Sven… I’m not going anywhere, okay? I just don’t want you to be cold” It was a little bit of a struggle, mainly because he could only use one arm, but eventually he had Sven in his lap and the blanket around them both, with the blond leaning against his less damaged side.

“… I thought you were a ghost…”

“I'm evidently hard to kill, Sven”, he ruffled his fair hair “And ghosts don’t exist”

Sven gave a weak laugh at that and was finally starting to calm down. Another bump in the road made him flinch though. “Where are we?”

“Truck on the way to the coast. Carol and some of the others are waiting on a boat”

“… How many of you made it off the rocket?”

Burt absentmindedly carded his fingers through Svens’ hair. It was so long now… it had been a long time since the failed rocket launch. He didn’t like thinking about _all_ the people who got off… “A few… We’ve got Carol, Thomas, Hattie, Geoffrey, Earrings… They busted out eleven others, but I don’t know who”

“You… raided the Wall with only…” Now that he was calming down, he felt his eyelids getting heavy again.

“Sven, if you’re tired, go back to sleep. It’s gonna be a while till we’re back to base anyway”

He quickly shook his head. He did not want to fall asleep again… What if everything was gone when he woke up? The thought made him shudder and hold on tighter.

Burt flinched and bit his tongue. This was getting a little bit annoying… “… Sovande skönhet”

The blond turned his head to tiredly glare up at Burt “Stop calling me… that”

“Maybe one day. I just wanted you to look at me”, the look in amber eyes was stern and serious “I just busted you out of the wall, got hit with a shotgun and fell off a cliff. Do you really think I’d let anything happen to you after that? I’m sorry it took me so long but you’re safe now…”

He was so tired at this point that he hardly registered what was said. He hadn’t seen those eyes in such a long time… His mind alone wouldn’t be able to replicate them like this, right?

…

Safe… Those eyes had saved him from so much trouble in the past. “… I trust you…”

_“It’s finally done” Sven held the rocket-plans in his hands while he stood at the foot of the ramp leading up to the massive structure. The sun had already gone down, and all their assets were stored inside the rocket. Mere hours from now they would have their space station in orbit. Be untouchable. It was such a pain to get where they were now, but it was worth it._

_“I’m not letting you pilot that thing without a night of actual sleep” Burt had his headset hung around his neck, top hat slightly lopsided without it. He seemed unimpressed by the giant rocket but in the past year Sven had learned to look through that façade. The moon was bright enough to see his eyes and they couldn’t lie to him anymore._

_The Toppat-leader just grinned at his Right hand and folded the plans “Oh come on. I’m completely fine”_

_“You’ve been running off caffeine alone for the past two days”, there was that hint of worry that Sven was really tired of seeing “The rocket is done and ready, no one is going to get through our defenses and Macbeth is going to be here at sunrise with the rest of our members”_

_“What about-?” “Yes” “… You don’t even know what I was going to ask” “Whatever it is, it’s done. I made sure that we’re as good prepared as we possibly can be”, Burt held out his hand “You can go rest up”_

_“Fine…” Maybe he should get some sleep before tomorrow. There was this tiny glint of accomplishment in warm amber eyes and he had to smile at that. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his back, and he stumbled forward, fell to his knees. “Sven?” The voice was faint, staticky, like it was coming from a broken intercom._

_Warmth from the jungle night faded to the chill of the Wall. There was another pair of eyes, another outstretched hand. Hard and cold._

_“Thoppat-Leader… We have a thpecial place for people like you here”_

He had the covers pulled tightly around him. His entire back was burning but the fabric against it was way softer than the rough prison uniform. And he was in a bed. The room was a lot warmer too, not hot but not cold either. The only thing that kept him in a slightly panicked state was that Burt wasn’t with him anymore…

But then he heard his voice and the tension in his body started to melt away. Everything was fine…

“No. That’s not what we agreed on” There was a very audible ‘clack’. The kind of sound that came from a very old keyboard when you tried to not make any sound with it. “Because I have it right here. … She’s not going to be happy either. … Feel free to do that, I’m not going to stop her if you don’t full fill your side of the deal”

It sounded serious so Sven decided to stay quiet and just take in his surroundings. The room was relatively small, with one corner packed full of a lot of electronics, all somewhat communication related. Two screens stood on a desk, the computer probably somewhere behind Burt who was sitting at the desk, fingers resting on the keyboard with his top hat slightly lopsided on top of his headset. Sven couldn’t see what was on the screens but there were a lot of colors.

“Usually you negotiate _before_ sealing a deal. … Do I sound like I care about the trouble you got yourself in? … ‘A little bit longer’ and you’ll be in even more trouble. … I’m not threatening you. You just shouldn’t cross Carol, that’s all I mean. … No more promises after that. I literally only have to push a button and your life is going to go up in flames. … Yes. _That_ was a threat”

The conversation seemed to be over, there was another ‘clack’ and the colorful flimmering stopped. Sven started to wonder why he was using his left hand so much… Before he could tell Burt, he was awake, the other Toppat pressed a button on his headset. On his right side with his left hand. Something was wrong there…

“Thomas, it’s 3 am. Why are you making pancakes? … Yeah… I’d like some. My question still stands”

The word ‘pancakes’ caused the blonds’ stomach to growl like a whole pack of wolves and he felt his cheeks turn red. Burt turned his head, his eyebrows almost vanishing under his black bangs. A mixture of amusement and worry. “Add a few more to that. Sven sounds like he’s starving”

Sven was slightly embarrassed and just concentrated on freeing himself from the blankets to sit up. He heard Burt stand up and walk over to sit next to him. “You slept for a long time”

“I-“ Sven paused and looked at his friend. Now he could see what the problem was. And he remembered what Burt said before he fell asleep again, his brain not able to properly process it at the time. “You fell off a cliff and broke your arm?”

“Few ribs too… But it’s not that bad”, Burt tugged at the sling that held his arm “I could be dead”

“You got hit by a shotgun?”

“More grazed by it. They had to pick out a few shots, but they weren’t lead so I’m fine”

“Your definition of ‘fine’ is worrying…”

“So is yours”

No… He wouldn’t argue with that now. “Anyone of the others injured?”

Burt took his top hat off to pull down his headset, so it hung around his neck, still close enough to hear if someone else needed his attention, at three in the morning. Now he was talking to Sven and no one else. “Nothing severe. Bullet wounds, scrapes… side effects from being in prison for almost two years…”

That was something Sven didn’t want to see in those eyes. Guilt. “Who cares if it took two years. We’ve lost every resource we ever had, I don’t know how you managed to pull this off with only so few people” He was grateful and he had no idea how he would ever be able to repay them all.

Burt was quiet, that hated emotion did not leave his eyes.

“Burt… it’s really okay. You-“

“I saw your back”, Sven flinched but he continued “Thomas and Earrings too…” When Sven stayed frozen, he sighed, started to scratch his neck, and looked away.

Sven didn’t even know why he was surprised by that… He was wearing different cloths, of course they saw them, but he didn’t want to think about them. The Wall was far away, there wouldn’t be more. “Please, just… forget about it. It’s not important…” And that was when he saw an entirely new emotion in those amber eyes. Usually Burts’ mood didn’t go past annoyed in a negative direction, but now his eyes looked like they were on fire from restrained anger and hate. It was actually scary… “It is important, Sven. To me”, his voice matched the look in his eyes and Sven was surprised he wasn’t yelling “I was so close to going all the way back to the Wall to find that warden and strangle him with whatever they used to hurt you. I still am. I don’t care if he did it himself or someone else. I would go through that whole complex to find that fucker too and shove a goddamn bomb down their throat” “Burt, plea-“ “I’d blow that whole place to hell and back if I need to, don’t care if I-“ “Stop!”, Sven grabbed his shoulders and yanked him towards him, so their faces were only a few inches apart “Do not even _think_ about doing shit like that! It’s not gonna change what happened. You were the one who said it would be a waste of time to take revenge for the airship. I chose you as my right hand because you were the only person, I knew who was always level-headed”, he had to take a deep breath “Don’t start shit like this now. I need you…” His vision went blurry and he felt tears stream down his face. “I…” What he wanted to do wasn’t healthy, he knew that, but what Burt wanted to do was even less healthy. “Please… just let me try and forget about it… I don’t want you near that place either. No one of you”

The fiery rage slowly faded, as if the tears were extinguished it, and Burt felt horrible for lashing out like that. He raised his hand and wiped some of the tears away with his thumb. “I’m sorry… I just spent the last two years to find a way to get you back without losing anyone else… and to see that something like that happened to you while I was running around like an idiot…”

Sven chuckled and wiped the rest of his tears away with his sleeve “I highly doubt that you were running around like an idiot the _whole_ time… Carol wouldn’t have tolerated that for so long” “Yeah… She really wouldn’t”

Before either of them could say anything else there was a knock on the door.

The smell of fresh pancakes drafted into the room as soon as Burt opened the door. “Good morning” Hattie was smiling brightly, purple top hat in place with her hair half stuffed under it. “Is there someone who isn’t awake this early?” “I think everyone else, but Miss Cross is asleep. Ah, you’re awake!”, she leaned to the right to have a better look into the room and see Sven. He smiled “Hey Hattie” He was beyond relieved that she made it off the rocket in time… Burt stepped aside to let the teen pass and place the tray with the pancakes and two glasses with water on the bed.

“We were all really worried… You didn’t look so good when Mr. Pemberton carried you in” “I did?”, Sven scratched the back of his head, getting his fingers tangled in his hair in the process “No need to worry now. I’m already feeling better”

Hattie smiled happily before slightly cocking her head “Do you need help with your hair? I could braid it for you”

“No thanks… I’m probably going to cut it” He didn’t really like the feeling of having long hair… and it probably didn’t look good on him.

“Aw… Okay”, the brunet looked at him, worry clearly visible in her eyes “Are you sure you’re alright? Burt wouldn’t let me go with him into maximum security so I don’t know-“ “Wait a second…”, Sven looked from her to Burt “You took Hattie to the Wall?!”

Burt sighed and patted the top of the girls’ hat “If I would have left her here, she would’ve snuck after us and that would’ve put her in more danger than us knowing where she was”

“Also, I can look after myself!”, the seventeen-year-old grinned “Those guards won’t forget me so fast”

“… What did you do there?” Sven for sure wasn’t happy that she had been part of that raid but getting mad at Burt or her wouldn’t change anything.

“I used a lot of these” She pulled some small round objects out of her pockets and Burt raised an eyebrow at her “Why are you still carrying them around?” “Why not?”

The blond took one of the small spheres “Are these… bombs?” “Smoke bombs” Burt specified. “And stink bombs”, added Hattie “Burt didn’t leave me any real explosives” “Despite everything Carol always says”, Burt patted her hat again, making it slip over her eyes this time “I am not in the mood to get murdered by your father for putting you in more danger than necessary”

“I wouldn’t have blown myself up…”, pouting, Hattie pushed her hat back up and looked at Sven “Can I use some next time?”

The look Sven gave her was enough and she rolled her eyes “Fine… I leave you to eat, I still need to bring some pancakes to Miss Cross” Hattie hugged him, almost knocking her top hat off, waved goodbye and left.

Well… at least he didn’t need to worry about her for the next few minutes then. Now he couldn’t wait any longer and grabbed one of the pancakes. He felt like tearing up again. It had been so long since he had something that he would call real food. “Don’t eat too fast, you throwing up is the last thing I want right now” “I’m not a child, Burt…” For a while it was quiet, and Sven didn’t like that at all. “So… who else is here? How many did escape?”

Burt lifted his hand to his headset to tap against the plastic. “That’s not an easy or short answer, Sven” “Why?” The tapping continued for a moment before Burt spoke again “Including you and Wallace we got thirteen people out of the Wall. So, we’re nineteen now. And sixteen people initially escaped the rocket” Sven blinked confused “What happened to the other ten?”

“… I’m gonna tell you what happened after the rocket launched if you promise not to interrupt me” “Okay…?”

_Burt stumbled out of the escape pod onto the forest floor. Through the gap in the trees that the fallen pods had created he couldn’t see any trace of the rocket. He got back up and tried his headset. There was a lot of static… “Sven? Don’t tell me your still on the rocket” No answer._

_Hattie stepped beside him and looked up to the cloudy sky “What happened to Sven…?” “I don’t know”, there was some kind of discussion going on behind them, but he didn’t pay attention to it “But if he’s still on the rocket… He’s in trouble” “Why? Where is it going?” “The Wall…” He had seen the coordinates in the computer, but he couldn’t change it from where he was and as soon as he told Carol she just dragged him and everyone they met on the way to the escape pods. Their way didn’t lead through the cockpit of course…_

_“There is no room or reason for discussion, Sheriff. Burt is his Right hand man”_

_Maybe he should pay attention to this. He turned around to see Carol arguing with Sheriff, standing tall and staring the man down. Aside from those two and him and Hattie there were only twelve other toppats._

_“I’m just saying, look where this leadership has brought us”_

_Oh, right… Sven wasn’t here so to them the Clan was without a leader. And he was second in command, great. Hattie was already angry too “I’d like to see you do better! You couldn’t build a rocket like that!” she pointed an accusing finger at Sheriff. “Well, brat, look where we are_ because _we built that rocket!” “I’m not a brat!”_

_Burt could literally see two fractions form. And Sheriffs’ fraction was slightly bigger than Carols’._

_“We don’t need another leader like Terrence Suave”_

_“Dare to repeat that!”_

_He really appreciated Carol defending Sven, and him, like that but this was pointless. “Everyone stop”, they actually did stop, even Sheriff, till Burt was standing next to Carol “If you don’t want me as a temporary leader and Sven as the real leader, you should just leave”_

_Everyone was looking at him like he was crazy. “Leave? Do you want to break the Clan apart?!” Burt stayed calm when he answered Sheriff, anything else would be a waste of time and energy “No. But you already did it yourself. No matter who wins this discussion, we will just continue to fight and that is nothing we can use right now”_

_“That is true…” Thomas sighed and adjusted on of his monocles._

_Sheriff looked around, checking on who was on whos’ side “So that’s how it’s going to be? Then go and fade into obscurity, we will rise up again!” With that ten of sixteen marched off._

_“… What’s the plan now, Boss?” “First of all”, Burt didn’t even look at Geoffrey, not because he was mad, he was just trying to come up with something to do next “don’t call me that. No matter where he is, Sven is still the leader” “What if he’s dead?” Hatties’ eyes grew wide at Earrings’ voiced worry. Burt just grit his teeth “He’s leader until someone can proof that”_

_“We shouldn’t focus on that right now”, Carol glanced up at the sky “We should leave before the government comes after us” Everyone agreed and they walked in the opposite direction from the one Sheriff and his group had taken. Carol and Hattie were staying next to Burt who tried to come up with a long-term plan that didn’t only revolve around getting Sven back. “We should keep a low profile right now… It’s probably going to take them a while to figure out we’re missing” “How do we keep a low profile?”, Hattie frowned “No big heists?” Burt nodded “I don’t think we should go on any heists at all… for now”_

_“We need a place to stay” Carol added after a moment of silence. “As well as supplies. Medical and food” Thomas was frowning and probably already thinking about how to get them without drawing much attention to them. Geoffrey checked his gun “Also need weapons and ammo”_

_Long shopping list and no money at their hands. Burt already felt a headache approaching. First things first. “If we find a place to stay, maybe we’ll find supplies there too. Weapons should be the last of our concerns” Geoffrey mumbled something about importance of defense and Burt took it in consideration but still._

_“We’ll find a place to stay and plan from there”_

“You just let them leave?”

“And I don’t regret it to this day…”, Burt was still tapping on his headphones “I don’t like what they’re doing these days… No one really does”

Sven started to feel uneasy. If something made Burt visibly worried it couldn’t be good… “But they’re still toppats. We’re a clan, we need to stand together”

“ _We_ do stand together, Sven”, he finally left his headset in peace and looked at Sven “But we won’t stand for the things _they’ve_ done”

“What did they do?”

“Remember those guys who ruined the rocket launch?”

Sven felt a significant amount of anger starting to boil inside him “How… am I supposed to forget those…?”

“Believe me… I don’t like them either and two of them are dead now”

“Sheriffs’ group killed them?” he didn’t really understand the look on his friends face now. That was a good thing.

“They did… The problem is _how_ they did it. Remember the guy that was held captive on the airship?” “Yeah” “According to the military broadcasts I was able to catch, he worked as a guard in the government facility where the plans for our rocket were stored. And Sheriff and his group broke in to steal them” “Why?”, Sven felt slightly offended “He said the rocket was a mistake that ruined the clan” “He did…”, Burt rubbed his neck “I don’t know if they were mainly after the plans or just after the guard but the point is… They searched for him specifically to kidnap, torture and kill him. Just to get the military to send those three after them. Or get them to attack them on their own”

Sven blinked. That was…

“They sat a trap afterwards. Killing the girl but purposely leaving the other one alive because their pilot friend was still out of reach. When he was there too, called by his injured friend, they tried to kill them off with explosives”

“… that is such a disgusting cowards move…” he didn’t understand why they would do it like that. Sure, he didn’t like these guys and it didn’t really make him feel bad that they were dead, it was like Burt said. The _how_ it was done was the problem… The Toppat Clan was a clan of thieves not of sadistic murderers!

“That’s why I want you to stay hidden for now”

“Hidden? I won’t hide from them. They’re not part of the Toppat Clan anymore, and that’s what I’m gonna tell them!”

“Sven”, Burt placed a hand firmly on his shoulder “They are desperate. That… incident almost killed all of them and they really want the rocket plans. I don’t want them to see you now, just coming back from the Wall”

“Do I really look that bad…?”, he definitely was a lot thinner, and weaker, right now than before the rocket launch “But what has that even to do with the rocket plans? The government has them”

“The governments’ copy was destroyed, so the one I have is the only one left”

Svens’ eyes grew wide and a bright smile spread across his face “You saved the rocket plans?!”

Burt wasn’t particularly happy that their conversation had obviously derailed “Yeah, but that’s not-“ “Oh my god, Burt, I could kiss you right now!” “Wh-what?” he could feel himself blush, but Sven didn’t seem to notice. “We can rebuild the rocket! A more remote location would probably be better… Maybe there’s a suitable spot in the mountains somewhere”, Sven paused “But we should probably continue keeping a low profile… Getting enough money and resources is going to take a while too… But we can do it!”

While Sven was just hyped about the possibility do rebuild his rocket, Burt was still stunned “Di- Were you serious about-?”

Suddenly he could faintly hear Carols voice and quickly put his headset back on, as good as he could with just one hand.

“They’re in front of the bunker”

Burt looked at Sven who had reached out to help him straighten his headset “They’re here”

“Good” Sven stood up and was obviously not planning on staying hidden.

“Sven-“ Burt shook his head and pressed the little button on his headset so Carol could hear his voice “Give me a second” He pressed the button again before standing up and getting a hold of Svens’ arm “Sven. Please listen to me. I wouldn’t ask something like this from you if I wouldn’t think it was necessary. You know that” Through his headset he heard Carol again “They look like they raided a military camp, Burt…” “Sven… Please stay here. I’ll deal with them now and we talk later”

The blond wasn’t happy about how he was treated right now… He wasn’t a child, he was the leader of the Toppat Clan, and that group didn’t belong to them anymore. But he knew Burt wouldn’t let him go… “Fine…” There was no glint of accomplishment in his eyes now, just relieve “It’s not going to take long”, Burt grabbed his top hat and coat and pressed the button on his headset again “I’m coming. Keep Hattie out of this” “I’m going to try”

The door closed behind him and Sven counted to ten before following.

Sheriff wasn’t polite enough to wait outside, they were already in the fairly big first room of the bunker, moonlight flooding through the open door behind them. There were only four, not including Sheriff himself, but they indeed looked like they had raided a military camp. Something Earrings and Geoffrey were about to do but now Burt was glad they hadn’t left yet. Everyone was there aside from Hattie and Thomas, who was caring for their recently saved friends.

“Curtis… It’s been a while”, Sheriff grinned “I see your raid on the Wall has taken its toll on you”

Burt looked the other man over. There were no visible injuries but the way he was standing gave him away. He was hiding them under his clothes. “I see your little stunt has taken its toll on your whole group. Are you all that’s left?”

“Hah. I don’t need to bring my whole group to get what I need…”

Burt crossed his arms, as good as he could with one arm stuck in a sling “And what exactly would you want from us?”

Sheriff held out his hand “The plans of course… I know you still have a copy, Curtis. You would do everything for your precious boss. Risking losing those plans wouldn’t be something you’d do”

He didn’t miss that underlying tone, that ‘I know what you want but you’ll never get it’. Burt had already snapped once today, he would not let it happen again in front of this man “Even if I would have them, I’d rather set them on fire before handing them over to you”

The older man glared at him “I don’t believe you”

“That’s your problem” From his position he could see that everyone had their hands hovering near their guns. He really didn’t want anyone to use them… They were short on ammunition already and most likely wouldn’t win a full-on gunfight. “There’s nothing here for you, Sheriff. We all survived without the rocket-plans, why would you even need them now?”

“Oh, personally I don’t need them. But there are quite a few people out there who would love to build that rocket for themselves”

So that’s what he-

“You want to sell the plans?!”

Burt turned around so fast he felt whiplash. Sven was standing in the doorway, anger and disgust clearly visible on his face. He should’ve locked the door…

“Not only did you torture and kill a harmless person that wouldn’t have caused you any problems at all, you didn’t even plan to actually build the rocket?!”

No one was sure what to make off Svens’ sudden appearance, well except for Burt who planned to murder him after this was over… Eventually Sheriff lifted his hat in a mocking gesture “Svensson. What a pleasant surprise. I assume I’ll have to negotiate with you instead of your _inferior_ ”

“Shut it and get out of all of our faces” Sven was already angry, Sheriff trying to insult Burt did not improve his mood. He stopped next to Burt and was visibly boiling.

Sheriff seemed more amused than anything else “Why so against helping out a fellow toppat?”

“You are not toppats. I’m throwing you out of the clan”

“We’ve already accomplished our biggest goals as the Toppat Clan. You can’t take that name from us”

The younger man glared at him “Maybe not for your past ‘accomplishments’… But you’ll never do anything else under the Toppat-name”

“I’m pretty sure we will pull our next heists under our name”

“Over my dead body”

A devilish grin spread across the old mans’ face “That can be arranged”

He was a sheriff, of course he was fast at the draw, more guns were drawn shortly after but there were only two shots in total. And two bodies falling to the ground.

“Now, now… We don’t want to turn this into a bloodbath, don’t we?” Sheriff turned to Carol. Her eyes were flicking between the four rifles that were pointed at her and the three other toppats in the room and the two unmoving forms on the ground and the blood that was leaking onto the concrete floor. Burt had tried to shield Sven. He truly had no sense of self-preservation…

There were footsteps, someone came running. The gunshots had alarmed the rest of the clan, but it wasn’t Thomas who showed up in the door. “Hah… No…”, Hattie had to hold onto the doorframe for a second, her knuckles turning white “… Pappa…”

Carol was cursing every god out there right now. If someone would shoot all hell could break loose and their chances weren’t good.

“What did you do?!” the teens’ green eyes were overflowing with tears, but there was more rage than sadness.

Sheriff was not fazed by the girls’ fury, he didn’t even raise his gun again when she stomped towards him “I think it’s quite obvious”

“Du är ett jävla monster!“

Carol grit her teeth “Hattie…” She was getting way to close to Sheriff, not that she would’ve been any safer staying in the doorway.

The ex-toppat just seemed to be amused “Am I now, little-“ There was movement on the floor behind the girl and he grinned again “You should’ve-“ The moment he raised his gun, Hattie grabbed his arm and tried to tackle him to the floor. The following struggle was covered up by a cloud of smoke. A single bomb had rolled across the floor and went off like a hand grenade, spewing thick smoke everywhere.

Geoffrey and Wallace were the first to lunge forward and attack the enemy. They were hidden by smoke and the darkness of the bunker while Sheriffs’ men had the moonlight in their backs, their silhouettes visible through the smoke. “The magazines are empty!” Earrings shouted after a few moments of fighting and gunshots. The group was in even worse shape than they thought… All but Sheriffs’ weapons were just for show.

Carol knocked out the man that had decided it was a good idea to try and take her down and looked over where she had last seen Hattie and Sheriff. She could hear grunts and curses but had to get closer to see what was going on. The old man was pinned to the ground and still struggling against Hattie, Sven and Burt. Carol didn’t waste time with thinking how those two survived and took Burts’ and Hatties’ places. Burt had already been injured and Hattie was now bleeding from a gunshot wound in her arm.

Sheriff couldn’t free himself from Carol and a more than furious swede.

Sven had one knee on the older mans’ back and was yanking his head around by his greying hair “Hur vågar du skada min familj!” The smoke was slowly fading revealing the rest of Sheriffs’ group to be on the ground as well.

Sheriff growled in frustration and looked up at Sven. Azure eyes glaring back down at him. His chances of getting out of this alive weren’t very high. “Du har gjort ett allvarligt misstag...”

“You don’t have the guts to kill me. As well as Curtis never had the guts to call you out on your obliviousness” this man wouldn’t go down without one last taunt.

“… Du har rätt”, Sven glared down at him “I’m not going to kill you. I won’t give you the easy way out” He looked over at Wallace “Drop them off near the Wall. And make sure they know _he_ is the leader”

He watched the group get dragged away, struggling and yelling “This isn’t the last you’ve seen of me, Svensson!” They were out of sight when he started to feel dizzy. Carol got him to sit down and pressed the end of her sleeve against his neck where one of the bullets had grazed him. Sven hissed at the contact but didn’t resist. The short burst of adrenaline was gone now and his body felt like it was about to just shut off again.

“Pappa?” Hattie placed a shaking hand on his shoulder and smiled when he raised his arm to pull her into a hug. They had to separate after a moment, when Thomas came to take care of their injuries.

Sven looked over to where Burt was, hoping he was already taken care of, and flinched.

Earrings was taking care of him, bandages in hand, but that was not what surprised, or shocked him. Burt was glaring at him. He had seen him angry just a few minutes ago but this time the anger was directed at him. “What-“, he grit his teeth and pressed his hand against the right side of his torso “Why couldn’t you just listen to me?!”

“I…” He simply hadn’t want to listen. But how was he supposed to know that all of this would happen just because he came too?

“You could be dead, Hattie could be dead!”, his breathing was strained and he definitely shouldn’t continue to yell “All because he wanted to sell the damn plans?!”

Aside from Carol everyone in the room was shocked, not expecting Burt to ever raise his voice like that, or be so openly angry with someone. Earrings fixed the bandages on his neck before gently gripping his arm “Burt, please be mindful of your own injuries for once” It got quiet, safe for Burts’ heavy breathing.

“Burt…” Of course Sven felt horrible, he knew now what could’ve happened, but again, how was he supposed to know that before? “I’m sorry-“ “Shut… it”, he was still glaring at him but not yelling anymore “I’m so sick of it” He reached up and struggled to get his hat off, Earrings was quick to help him though. Sven was about to try and apologize again but paused when Burt pulled a memory card out of his hat and showed it to him “Do you know what’s on this?” He didn’t even leave him time to answer “It’s those damn plans that have caused us nothing but problems” Breaking the small card with only one hand wasn’t an easy task.

Svens’ eyes went wide “Don’t! You can’t just destroy them!”

“… Who’s going to stop me?” No one in the room moved until Sven tried to get back up. Knowing they couldn’t stop him Carol helped him stand. Earrings had to do the same for Burt.

“Me. I’m your leader and I want you to give me the card” he held his hand out and glared up at the other man.

Burt looked at him, expression now unreadable, even to Sven. Then his eyes went cold “I don’t recall stepping down from my position” He then bit down on the card and broke it in two, letting both pieces fall to the ground before turning around and walking back to his room.

Earrings looked from him to Sven before grabbing the medical supplies from the ground and following the raven-haired toppat.

Sven didn’t even know what he was so shocked about right now. There was a lot… He felt dizzy again and almost fell when Hattie pulled him into a hug. “That’s enough…”, Carol sighed and looked at Thomas “Take care of him. I’m sure Earrings is going to stick to Burt. I’ll see that we can move hideouts in the next few days”

Thomas just nodded and, with Hatties’ help, lead Sven to their small med bay, the opposite direction from the one Earrings and Burt had taken.

Carol walked to the still open bunker door to close it “What a mess…”

**Author's Note:**

> I've never thought I'd write that sentence but this is not canon to my main story.  
> Burt is canonically dead.


End file.
